PSYC37H3 Chapter 2: Psychological Assessment - Chapter 2 Book Notes
Document Summary
Using number systems allow us to manipulate information. Statistical methods serve two important purposes to aid in scientific understanding. numbers provide convenient summaries and allow us evaluate some observations relative to others. Statistics are used to make inferences: which are logical deductions about events that cannot be observed directly. first, clues are gathered and displayed (also called exploratory data analysis) then, clues are evaluated against rigid statistical rules, through a process called confirmatory data analysis. Descriptive statistics: are methods used to provide a short description of a collection of quantitative information. Inferential statistics: are methods used to make inferences from observations of a small group of people known as a sample to a larger group called a population. Measurement: the application of rules for assigning numbers to objects. Example - wine may be rated on a 10-point scale where 1 means extremely bad and 10 means extremely good.
